Life After You
by Ayane Yokosuka
Summary: He just wanted to know what she was... He did not think the path he followed her through would be so...complicated. KuramaOC


Ayane: My original story for Hanabi is lost in a stack of boxes somewhere, so I'm going to start from scratch because, honestly, I've wanted to write a KuramaOC story since forever and this seems like the perfect excuse! Tacky title, I know. I will more than likely change it. I don't own YYH. I own OCs only!

**Life After You**

One – Don't Go

_Why?_

The word echoed in Hanabi Akita's mind as she stared at the picture of the wide-eyed, brown haired, grinning girl sitting on top of the casket.

_Why?_

Ana's father stood by the doorway, his legs barely supporting him, accepting peoples' kind words and gifts.

_Ana…_

Her best friend's mother had come to Japan from America near twenty years prior, when she met Mr. Yamanichi during one of his business trips. As they had told it many times, it was love as soon as they met.

So why did Mr. Yamanichi have to suffer so much?

The poor man had lost his wife to a brain tumor mere months after Ana had been born. No one had seen it, no one knew. Mr. Yamanichi had not fallen apart, though, turning instead to what he had left of his lovely wife.

And then, two weeks after her sixteenth birthday, Ana had been walking home from school when she was hit by a passing car. The driver had fallen asleep at the wheel after apparently working fourteen hours on two hours' sleep. Hanabi had been running late, goofing off with some of the guys from the swim team again.

_Why…Ana…?_

Clenching her teeth together to keep her composure, she made her way to Ana's father.

"Mr. Yamanichi," she started, "you know more than anyone that I am truly sorry."

"Hana, it's not your fault," he responded. It was obvious the man had lost sleep since his daughter's death – his hair was a mess and his eyes looked as if he could not cry anymore. "You know she would tell you the same."

She turned her dark purple eyes to the ground, shading them with her bangs as she curled her hands into fists. "If I had just been there, it might have been okay."

"Or we may have lost both of you." He pulled her into a tight hug. "I miss her, too, Hana, but I'd be lost if both of you were gone."

Hanabi stood stiffly in his arms, stunned and still silently blaming herself.

As she walked from him, from the building, from everything she knew of her life, she looked up to her left. "What do I do, Ana?"

"_**What do ya mean, Hana? You go on living, of course!"**_

She allowed her eyes to focus on the apparition. "I can't do that – not without you." She raked her hand through her hair, averting her quickly-filling eyes. "You're the only friend I have in the world, Ana."

"_**You can make more, Hanabi. Don't be silly!"**_ the spirit pouted, crossing her arms. _**"Also, I can now see why you always looked crazy walking down the streets…"**_ she teased, sticking out her tongue.

"Yeah…"

"_**Hana, don't make that face."**_ There was a moment of silence. _**"Hey, Hana, it seems like I gotta go. My, uhm, guide's here."**_

Hanabi froze and stared wide-eyed up at the spirit. "Ana, you can't leave me!"

"_**Hana, you'll be okay. It's my time, anyway! Watch over my dad for me, would you? He needs someone. Hana, I get to see mom again."**_ She smiled. _**"I get to see mom."**_

"I can't make any promises, Ana…" Hanabi choked slightly on her own words. "I can't promise I won't hate myself. I can't promise I won't miss you everyday."

Ana's fading face smiled. _**"I believe in you, Hana."**_

"Ana, don't go…" she whispered, her tears finally letting lose as her friend faded from sight. "Ana… No. No!"

"Miss? Who are you talking to?" a gentle voice asked from behind her; she turned to the person quickly, eyes widening. She was met with a kind smile behind bright red hair and sparkling emerald eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Leave me alone," she snapped.

The boy laughed and reached for her. "I'm sorry. I really can't do that."

"Well I can." She spun on her heel and stomped off, muttering about rude femme boys. "I can't even hold a private conversation with my friend… Ana…"

"I'm afraid I didn't catch your name," his voice returned, immediately behind her.

"Hanabi," tumbled out as she looked over her shoulder at him. "And yours?"

"Shuichi."

She was silent a moment, stopping to frown at him. "Liar," she finally muttered. She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's not what he's telling me." Her eyes darted over his shoulder at an unclear spirit hanging around him that shook its head from side to side. "He says you're a liar and your name isn't Shuichi."

"Who's 'he'?" the redhead asked calmly, his eyes not betraying even the smallest bit of emotion.

A sigh escaped her as she shrugged. "Not clear enough. Look, I don't care about your real name or your past. I have my own problems to deal with." She smiled smally to herself. "I'll deal with mine, you deal with yours. See ya around, liar."

His eyes burned into her back as she walked away; she could feel them with every step she took, even after she turned the corner. She pushed on, though, refusing to let it get to her. "I can't pretend I can stick around without you, Ana. I'm lost."

Her feet hit the doorstep of her little apartment and she fished in her pocket for her keys.

"Miss Hanabi, I still have to wonder what you are."

After calming herself down from her mini heart attack, she turned back to him. "A liar and a stalker, hm? Well, then, sir, I guess you can call me a medium? That's what I've been told anyway. Or, you know, a loon." She winked. "I've been called that, too."

"You're more than that…" he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Well, now that you know where I live anyway, do you want to come in?" she asked dryly, turning her key in the lock. "I'll make you some tea or something. It's nice to talk to a real person once in a while, I guess."

The redhead trailed behind her, studying the back of her head as she spoke animatedly about only being able to spend time with spirits. "Who is Ana?" That question stopped her completely, as if she was not expecting it.

"It doesn't concern you," she responded, voice void of all emotion.

He frowned and decided not to push it. "Miss Hanabi, as you believe in the supernatural, I am to assume you believe in demons?" he asked, moving away from the taboo subject.

"I may." She reached into the cupboard and pulled out a few tea containers after setting the kettle on the hot stovetop. When she decided on a flavor, she looked over her shoulder at her guest. "Then again, I may not. Who's to say? I can never be sure if I'm looking at a demon or just a terrible human. I'm a bit of a hermit when I'm not at school, you see."

"Not all demons are monsters," he murmured, studying her carefully. "Maybe some of them pay for their past aggressions.

She pursed her lips and looked away. "No one can ever completely pay for the things they've done wrong. No one. No thing." She was pleased when he remained silent until the kettle screeched to let them know the water was hot enough. "Have a…" Her sentence faded from her lips when as she turned and noticed he was not there. "…Shuichi? Hey, this isn't funny!" Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she wandered out of her kitchen, searching. She found him frozen in the hallway leading to the back of the house, staring up at a portrait on the wall. Her chest ached when she saw it; Ana and she had had Mr. Yamanichi take that picture the first day of junior high. They were posed in the same ridiculous fashion as one of their favourite characters.

"My apologies, Miss Hanabi, I felt you wished to be alone so I was searching for the bathroom. I was unaware you had gone to my junior high… Oh, dear. What's happened? You're crying."

Hanabi stared blankly up at him, shaking her head. "Get out," she said hollowly.

"I apologize if I have upset you in some way." He bowed slightly, glancing at the picture from the corner of his eye a final time.

"Get out of my house!" she snapped, eyes bright and fierce. "You've outstayed your welcome!" Blinding white spirit energy whipped around her. She opened her mouth as if to say something else, but her vision began to dip and fade. The last thing she saw before her world went dark was the redhead standing stoically by and frowning at something behind her.

~*~*~The "Guest"~*~*~

"That wasn't necessary, Hiei."

"Hn. Living with humans has made you dense, Kurama," the spiky haired man grumbled. "I did you a favour, fox. You were caught off guard. It could have killed you."

The redhead studied Hanabi's sleeping face. "Why do you say 'it'?"

"That creature is no human. It is no demon." Hiei shrugged and stared out the window.

"She's something, Hiei," Kurama murmured. "Right now, though, she's lost. She needs help. We were brought together for a reason." He laughed quietly at the comically skeptical expression Hiei shot him. "You and I became good friends after being thrown together quite randomly, if you remember."

"Hn."

He moved some hair from her face. "I'll help her figure out what she is. It's the least I can do."

"…Moron."

"You're so stubborn when I talk about fate."

Hiei shut his eyes and rested his head against the window frame. "Mysticism doesn't interest me," he sighed.

Kurama simply smiled and informed his companion that they should be going. He requested that Hiei try to edit her memory somewhat but the latter informed him there would be no problem – she was unaware of what happened after going into her blind rage.

"The toddler wants to see us tomorrow."

"I know. I'm going to tidy up here before I head home. I'll see you tomorrow, Hiei. Thank you."

"Hn." In a matter of seconds Kurama was left staring at a mere afterimage of his friend.

The green-eyed man backed into the house and locked the door before turning to stare at the girl lying on the couch again. He had not been so fascinated by anyone before and he was not even sure why he was so drawn to her. When he followed her home – he smiled briefly when he thought of her calling him "stalker" – he had expected something other than what he was greeted with. From the looks of it, the girl lived alone in a house big enough to hold one large family.

And what was with that picture?

He conjured up the picture in his memory and studied it, not wanting to chance her waking up while he was physically studying it. Why had she been so upset that he was looking at it? He shook his head and his eyes wandered around the living room, finding more pictures of the two girls that he had not taken the time to look at before.

"…Ana…" Hanabi whimpered in her sleep.

Despite the fact he knew it was rude, at this point Kurama really wished he had asked Hiei to tap into her mind and shed some light on the situation. Especially since the girl started crying pitifully in her sleep, curling herself into a little ball.

"So sorry…Ana…"

Kurama frowned again, wiping a tear from her cheek. _She's more human than you or I, Hiei…_

~*~*~Hanabi, 3 Hours Later~*~*~

"Ouch!" Hanabi snapped as her head collided with the floor, successfully waking her from her unconscious state. She muttered bitterly at herself for sleeping on the couch again as she rubbed the side of her head and sat up.

_Wait a second…didn't I have company?_

The thought caused her to first check her being for any missing articles of clothing, then frown at herself for being so insulting – he had not seemed the type to do such a callous thing from the start.

"Liar? Stalker? …Shuichi?" she called out as she wandered through the house, looking for her missing guest. "What the hell!" she snapped as she made her way through the very obviously empty house. She did not care that she was being obnoxious as she stomped back through the house to the kitchen.

A bright red rose sitting atop a yellow scrap of paper in the center of the table caught her eye and she laughed aloud, thoroughly amused as she walked over to read the note.

_~*~*~Miss Hanabi, it was a pleasure getting to meet you. I am sorry you were so exhausted that you could not make it through a cup of tea, though. I hope to reschedule and get to know you better.~*~*~_

She was unable to help the shy smile that creeped across her face as she read his last sentence. Almost as an afterthought, she flipped the paper over and tilted her head slightly in surprise as she found words there.

_~*~*~By the way, you may call me Kurama.~*~*~_

After a moment, she put the note in a drawer and turned away to find a vase for the rose. Though flowers were not really her thing, she did not have the heart to throw it away. Aside from that…she wanted to ask him where he got it from. There were no rose bushes in the area and all the flower shops were closed by the time they had arrived at her house, after all…

Was he truly odd enough to just carry roses on him all the time?

She sighed and shook her head. What was she thinking? _Why_ was she even thinking about him? After affirming all of her doors and windows were locked, she made her way to her bedroom, still ridiculously tired.

As she lay turned towards her night table, she gently traced Ana's face in the star shaped picture frame they had picked out together.

"Good night…onee-chan…"

Ayane: …Poor Hana-chan.

Hiei: Stop putting me in stories.

Ayane: Hm… No?

(Hiei glares)


End file.
